


another grey day in the big blue world

by Jens



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Minor Character Death, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, brief Sokka/Yue - Freeform, it's Sokka trauma hours, kinda?? it's vague
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:13:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27194947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jens/pseuds/Jens
Summary: No one ever tells him that while time can heal wounds, it doesn’t do much if you’ve never even acknowledged the wounds are there.
Relationships: Katara & Sokka (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 129





	another grey day in the big blue world

**Author's Note:**

> title from Another grey day in the big blue world by Maaya Sakamoto

Sokka’s mom dies when he’s 8.

It should probably be a life-changing experience, and it is, but then again, it’s not. Because life goes on. Sokka’s mom is dead, and life goes on.

Besides, he’s going to have a lot of life-changing experiences, he’s sure, so why dwell on this one? He’s a big boy already and Katara cries enough for the both of them anyway. Even Dad cries and Gran Gran and Bato. If they all cry, Sokka doesn’t need to, right? He can be the strong one.

He _will_ be the strong one.

* * *

It gets easier, over the years, to hide the fact that he misses his mom a lot. It’s not that it doesn’t hurt. It’s just that he never really processed it, not in a way that would’ve given him closure. And that means he doesn’t really think about it, or talk about it, or in any way acknowledge it even happened.

Katara never really gets over it as much as she just becomes angry about it, as if there was something she could have, _should_ have, done to prevent it. Sometimes Sokka’s jealous. Anger would be more cathartic, he thinks, because Katara can talk about it. When it gets too much, she shares her feelings. Dad talks about it too, how much he misses mom, and it’s easy for them but not for Sokka.

When he gets older, he’ll get over it, right? Dad seems to be fine even though his dad has been dead for a long time, he died before Sokka was even born. It must a part of growing up. Someday Sokka will be fine too.

* * *

(No one ever tells him that while time can heal wounds, it doesn’t do much if you’ve never even acknowledged the wounds are there.)

* * *

Yue is - she’s amazing. The first girl Sokka likes so much he doesn’t really know what to do with himself. The first time they talk, he makes a complete fool of himself in front of her, because of course he does (seriously, asking her to ‘do an activity’ together?), but she doesn’t mind. In fact, she smiles at him a lot and blushes a lot too, and Sokka can’t quite believe his luck.

Yue is his first kiss. Sokka can’t quite believe that either.

He’s a fool, he knows by now, and he should know better than to think loving someone means they can’t go away, but he still loves Yue with all the fervour a 15-year-old can have and that means being a little unrealistic in his expectations. He’s not thinking of marriage or anything real, there’s just this vague sense of wanting to be together for a long time, if not quite forever.

Finding out Yue is sick feels a lot like a punch to the gut.

She’s gone from school for a week and that’s fine, Sokka sometimes misses school too; around his mom’s death anniversary it’s a given. He doesn’t think twice about it, not until Yue pulls him aside after the last class of the day on her first day back and says they need to talk.

His stomach drops and heart clenches and he wants to run away because this is the worst thing. She must want to break up, why else would she phrase it that way?

He’s wrong, because Yue hugs him with tears in her eyes and says she’s tired of keeping secrets from him. Tired of him not knowing she has cancer and there’s nothing doctors can do anymore. The best she can hope for is 6 months and even that’s being optimistic.

And this is _so much_ worse than Yue breaking up with him. This is like - like being 6 and hearing his mom say she has cancer. Like being 8 and knowing, with absolute certainty, that she won’t be around for much longer.

Sokka is fifteen and this is the second time he’s losing someone he loves. There’s a poetic kind of cruelty to it, that it’s for the same reason both times.

He can’t tell Katara or Dad or anyone, not at first. It almost feels like it’s not his place to tell anyway. But Katara notices, of course she does, when Yue stops coming to school altogether. She asks if they broke up, if Yue’s avoiding him and how dare he, she’s friends with Yue too, Yue deserves better than to have her heart broken by Sokka -

“She has cancer.”

Katara stops. The room is stiflingly quiet for a moment that feels like an eternity.

“How- how long?”

Sokka’s not sure what Katara’s asking. How long has he known? How long does Yue have left? In the end, the question doesn’t even matter because the answer is the same.

“Not long.”

Katara opens her mouth as if to say something, closes it, opens it again. In the end, all she can get out is a strangled, “no.” 

“I know.” And he does. He knows exactly what, _who_ , Katara is thinking about.

Sokka wishes he could cry about it but the tears won’t come. So he sits on the living room couch, stares at the wall and thinks about mom as Katara cries for the both of them, again.

(After the funeral, Yue becomes another topic Sokka never talks about.)

* * *

Sokka meets Zuko just a few days after his 16th birthday. They strike up a friendship that is, at first, mostly based on the fact that they both like swords. Over time, they find other common interests and then - Sokka would like to be able to say it is a happy occasion when they go from casual friends to real ones.

But the thing is, they bond over _similar trauma_ of all things.

Sokka tells Zuko his mom is dead the way he always does: nonchalant, almost an afterthought. He doesn’t want pity or sympathy or anything like that, he just wants Zuko to know. It’s a test of sorts; if Zuko doesn’t freak out and start treating him like he’s fragile, he’ll keep him around.

Sokka doesn’t really know what kind of reaction he wanted or expected but Zuko telling him his mom’s gone too does catch him by surprise. She quite literally disappeared overnight when Zuko was 10, he doesn’t even know whether she’s still alive or not which, in a way, might be even worse than knowing for sure your mom’s not coming back.

Zuko cries a little, which is - not exactly unexpected, given that he’s a bit of a crybaby. Sokka is happy about it though, because it means he doesn’t have to acknowledge all the complex emotions that always rise to the surface when the topic of his mom comes up.

See, he’s a functional human being, comforting his friend who’s dealing with an abusive father, a frankly messed up sister, and an absent mom. Compared to that, Sokka doesn’t really have anything to complain about; his mom might be gone, and Yue too, but he still has his dad, Katara and Gran Gran, not to mention his friends. Zuko would think he’s ungrateful if he cried about his dead mom.

(And he thinks about talking about Yue as well, for the first time since she’s been gone -

He shouldn’t, right? It’s too much at once.)

But he doesn’t have to dwell on that, Zuko knows now and he didn’t even freak out about it. It’s actually great having a guy friend his own age; he loves Suki, Toph, Katara and Aang but the thing is, only Suki is the same age as him and she’s a girl.

Yeah, Sokka definitely likes being friends with Zuko.

* * *

For a while, life is good. Then the anniversary of Sokka’s mom comes around.

It’s always difficult around the anniversary of her death.

Not that it’s ever _easy_ , not really, but most of the time he can avoid thinking about it. Well, thinking about it to the point where he actually has to _feel_. That’s probably not the healthiest approach, but hey, Sokka’s made it almost ten years like this, surely repressing his trauma indefinitely can’t do more damage than it already has.

Well, not much anyway.

Someday he may feel differently about it. Someday he might do the right thing and actually talk to someone about it. For now, he’s sticking with the avoidance tactic.

But just because he doesn’t want to admit to it, doesn’t mean it doesn’t affect him, which - well, he’s not the easiest person to be around in the days leading to the anniversary of his mom’s death. As in, he shuts everyone out. Snapping at people for no reason, not going to class, not replying to anyone’s texts, just locking himself up in his bedroom and trying to remember how to breathe normally.

(This is the first year since Yue’s been gone too and remembering that, remembering _Yue_ , hurts so much more.)

Dad and Katara are used to it so they leave him alone, even if they’re not happy about it. But Zuko... it’s the first time since he met Sokka. And he knows Sokka’s mom is dead but there’s no way he’d be able to connect the dots between that and Sokka practically _disappearing_. Not with how casual Sokka was about the whole thing.

All of that means that Zuko is a bit of a mess about it when Sokka finally shows up to school after a week of absence.

(So maybe Sokka should have warned him. He may feel a little guilty.)

But. The poor guy’s certainly got enough trauma of his own for two lifetimes, Sokka can hardly burden him with his own, right? It’s not a big deal anyway, people die all the time. And anyway it’s not that he’s avoiding talking to _Zuko_ about it, he doesn’t talk to _anyone_.

Katara has told at least Aang, Sokka knows, but that’s understandable, he’s her boyfriend. She’s always been much more vocal about her trauma anyway. Her anger about it has mellowed out over the years and Sokka understands that; it’s kind of hard to stay angry when it has nowhere to go. Who do you blame when your mom dies of cancer anyway?

Maybe that’s why Katara’s talking about going to med school. She doesn’t want anyone to have to through what she and Sokka did if there’s something she can do about it. It’s admirable, really; Sokka wishes he could be that practical about his own trauma.

Avoiding it is so much easier, though.

But then, he looks at Zuko who very clearly has been thinking about his mom during the time Sokka was gone, and he thinks how awful it must be, stuck in a limbo, never knowing if maybe someday the doorbell could ring and your mom would be on the other side of the door -

Okay, maybe he feels more than a _little_ guilty for worrying him.

* * *

(He makes an effort to not drop off the face of the earth the next year, just for Zuko’s benefit, because he’s a good friend like that. Katara rolls her eyes when he tells her that.

‘You’ve never done that for any of your other friends’, she says. Sokka wants to refute it but it’s true and he doesn’t really feel like thinking about why he’s making an exception for Zuko.

The year after that, too, Sokka makes sure that even if he can’t drag himself to class, he’ll at least text Zuko to let him know he’s okay. He thinks Zuko wants to ask him about it - it’s the third year in a row, surely even someone as socially stunted as Zuko would start to pick up on a pattern - but in the end he doesn’t. Sokka likes that about him.)

* * *

Sokka and Zuko start dating the year Sokka turns 19.

Zuko shows up at Sokka’s house late one night with a suitcase, saying he had to get away from home, and Sokka knows he doesn’t just mean that night. He offers to let Zuko stay at his place until he figures out what to do and Zuko accepts, a brittle smile pulling at his lips.

Sokka’s room is small but there’s just enough space for an extra mattress on the floor. Zuko doesn’t even change clothes, he just lies down, staring at the ceiling with empty eyes. Sokka wants to ask him what happened, why he decided to leave now, but he’s not sure Zuko wants to talk.

“Azula stayed,” Zuko finally says into the darkness and he sounds sad about it. Sokka hasn’t actually ever met her but he’s heard enough to know Azula doesn’t exactly treat Zuko with kindness.

But she’s still his sister, Sokka thinks. Tries to imagine himself and Katara in this situation. “I’m sorry.”

“I just couldn’t stay there anymore, but Azula - I don’t know if I can help her. She still thinks she’ll be loved someday if she does everything right.” It’s dark but Sokka can just make out Zuko’s form, his hand raised to his face. To his _scar_. “But that’s never going to happen and I shouldn’t have left her, she deserves better-”

On impulse, Sokka climbs out of bed and slides next to Zuko on the mattress. Zuko jolts, trying to back away, but Sokka reaches an arm around his waist and pulls him in. “You also deserve better,” he says quietly.

Because Zuko _does_. He’s socially awkward and kind of weird but so so sweet and caring and loyal and Sokka can’t for the life of him understand how his dad could not love Zuko. How Zuko could ever have thought he did something to make his father not love him.

“We can talk about Azula tomorrow, okay? It’s late, you should get some sleep.”

Zuko is quiet but he does relax, hesitantly leaning even closer to Sokka. Sokka tightens his hold on Zuko’s waist, relishing in his warmth and the knowledge that Zuko is safe, if only for tonight.

They fall asleep like that, curled in each other’s arms.

* * *

Dad is surprised in the morning when Sokka shows up for breakfast with Zuko in tow but Sokka quickly fills him in on the details. And, as he assumed, dad is happy to let Zuko stay. Well, more like he’s horrified at Zuko’s home situation and can’t let him go back with a clear conscience. Either way, he welcomes Zuko to stay.

Katara is not as quick to accept; for whatever reason, she’s always had something against Zuko.

She pulls Sokka aside after breakfast. “So what, your boyfriend’s just gonna live with us now?”

Sokka blinks. “Who?”

Katara rolls her eyes. “Zuko, who else.”

Sokka wants to retort that, wants to say Zuko’s not his boyfriend and laugh at the sheer ridiculousness of that assumption, but the words get stuck in his throat.

Zuko isn’t his boyfriend, and for some reason, instead of finding the idea ridiculous, Sokka is upset.

Katara is rolling her eyes again, muttering to herself something about clueless boys. Sokka isn’t listening, or more like he can’t hear because there’s a rushing in his ears and suddenly he can’t stop thinking that Zuko _isn’t_ his boyfriend but Sokka might - want him to be?

He hasn’t thought about anyone like that since - since Yue. But suddenly he thinks that maybe he and Zuko could be good together. That maybe he wants them to be.

So he goes back to his room, where Zuko has been waiting for him, and he looks at Zuko, really looks at him, the way he’s bouncing his leg in uncertain anxiety, as if Katara disapproving of him being there might actually get him kicked out, and Sokka is -

Sokka is, first and foremost, an absolute idiot. Secondly, he’s in love, and he’s an idiot because somehow he never saw it before even though it was, and should’ve been, obvious.

It’s like a lightning strike, the realisation, and now Sokka can’t go back to not knowing. His chest is suddenly bursting with feelings, nearly overflowing, and he has to get it out.

“Hey, um. I kinda wanna tell you something? And uh, if you don’t wanna stay here after that, I totally get it.”

Zuko looks at him in alarm.

“It’s not anything bad! …well, depends actually.” Sokka takes a few steps forward, trying to decide if he should sit next to Zuko on the bed or maybe grab the chair. Or maybe he shouldn’t sit at all? “I was just talking to Katara and she, uh, kinda assumed you were my boyfriend. Which is weird, since you’re, you know, not. My boyfriend.”

Sokka glances at Zuko and finds him staring back, even paler than usual. That’s… not a good sign.

“So anyway! It was weird but it got me thinking.” Sokka inhales, ready to blurt out a confession next (he literally got Yue to date him by asking her to ‘do an activity together’, how badly could he fuck up here) but before he can do that, Zuko suddenly jumps to his feet. Sokka steps back, startled.

“I’ll go stay with Toph!” Zuko announces, his voice almost breaking in the middle. Sokka blinks.

“What?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t - your sister must’ve realised how I feel about you and I didn’t want to make things awkward, I shouldn’t have come here, I’m sorry-” Zuko tries to flee the room but Sokka is still standing by the door, all he has to do is take a step to the left and Zuko can’t escape.

“What do you mean, how you feel about me?” Sokka has a feeling he knows, or then it’s just wishful thinking, but he wants to hear Zuko say it either way.

“I’m sorry,” is all Zuko says. Sokka reaches a hand, gently laying it on his shoulder; Zuko jolts but doesn’t shake the hand off.

“Hey, talk to me.”

Zuko only sniffles in response and Sokka’s heart breaks a little.

“Can I tell you something then?”

There’s no reply. Right then, time for a leap of faith. Sokka gathers Zuko into his arms and holds him tight. “It got me thinking that yeah, you’re not my boyfriend, but I’d really like it if you were.”

Zuko goes stiff. Not in a good way, he just - freezes. Sokka waits, his heart in his throat. He could have read this wrong, maybe Zuko means he just really hates Sokka and can’t wait to cut all ties with him -

“I’d like that too.”

It’s quiet, barely audible, but Zuko hugs him back right after so Sokka knows he didn’t imagine it. His heart fills with a rush of affection. Zuko is so sweet and lovable and amazing, he deserves the world and Sokka is going to do his part to give Zuko love and care.

* * *

(He hates that he has to then go to Katara and tell her she was right, his _boyfriend_ is going to stay with them for a bit. She grins at him, smug, but it quickly gives way to a gentle smile.

“I know I’m not Zuko’s biggest fan but this is the first time I’ve seen you look at someone like that since - you know. You deserve this, okay? I can live with your boyfriend not being my favourite person.”)

* * *

“We should move in together,” Sokka blurts out over breakfast a few months later. Zuko never did go back home and while dad and Katara haven’t said anything, Sokka can tell everyone’s starting to feel a bit claustrophobic.

Zuko nearly chokes on his tea. Katara straight up leaves the kitchen with a “seriously, right in front of my salad?” while Dad raises an eyebrow. 

“I meant like, a place with two bedrooms,” Sokka splutters. Moving in together after only a few months of dating is a bit too fast even for him, and yet at the same time it’s the most logical solution. Having their own bedrooms would at least take pressure off their relationship, make it feel more like a roommate arrangement. “I’ve been thinking about moving out anyway and it’d be easier to afford the rent between the two of us.”

Zuko shoots an alarmed look at Hakoda who goes back to reading the newspaper (or at least pretends to). “I- yeah, okay.”

“Yeah?” Sokka, once again, can’t quite believe his luck. “Then... we should start looking for a place.”

* * *

The place they find isn’t big or fancy but to them it’s perfect. They have their own bedrooms, even if they do end up sharing a bed a lot of the time anyway, and they have a cute little living room and kitchen. It feels like a home.

Things are good, for the most part. Sokka loves Zuko, he really does, and they put effort into making their relationship work.

And then, that time of the year comes and Sokka can feel himself spiraling. He’ll walk by a hospital and be suddenly transported back to the time he would visit mom with dad and Katara and Gran Gran, the awful constant beeping of different machines and smell of disinfectant in the background. He’ll see a child holding hands with their mom and feel jealous that that was taken away from him before he was old enough to not want to do it anymore.

He’s sad and misses his mom, but he’s angry and frustrated too. It’s been over ten years, shouldn’t he be better at coping with it?

(Maybe he would be, if he’d ever actually made an effort to start the healing process.)

The thing is, now that he lives together with Zuko, it’s way too difficult to try to hide it from him. At least before he could trust dad and Katara to leave him alone. But Zuko - Zuko tries. He tries so hard to get Sokka to go outside, to eat, to at least talk to him.

It’s sweet. Sokka hates it.

He locks himself up in his bedroom, happy that he has his own room with a door to lock, and curls into his bed.

Usually it takes him about a week to become functional again. The problem is that a week is a long time to be avoiding his live-in boyfriend.

* * *

There’s a knock on his door.

“Are you awake?” Zuko’s voice calls out.

Sokka has been trying to sleep but that hasn’t been going too well. So yes, he’s awake. Not in the mood to talk though.

“Why?” he asks anyway.

“Um.” Zuko clears his throat. “It’s been a few days and you haven’t gone out or eaten much, I’m worried.”

Making Zuko worry is the only effective way to counter Sokka’s apathy, that’s why he actually gets up and goes to open the door. Zuko looks surprised.

“Oh.” 

Sokka goes back to bed but he does leave the door open, just in case Zuko feels like joining him for a nap. Or, in the likely event of him still not being able to fall asleep, lying in bed doing nothing. Whichever. After a moment he does hear soft footsteps approaching. Zuko doesn’t sit on the bed though, pulling out Sokka’s desk chair instead.

“Sokka,” Zuko starts in a soft voice. “Could you tell me about you mom?”

What the fuck. Sokka sits up. “Why?”

He knows his tone is hostile and Zuko looks like he regrets asking but he doesn’t back down. He meets Sokka’s angry gaze. “I just- I asked Katara and she told… this is when she died.”

Well then. Sokka wants to be angry, wants to yell at Zuko, to tell him he had no right to go behind his back like that, but -

Katara can share the details about her mom’s death with whomever she chooses. Just because she was Sokka’s mom too doesn’t mean he gets to say no. Admittedly, her telling his boyfriend is a bit of a nasty move but that’s still not Zuko’s fault, it’s Sokka’s for not being open with him in the first place.

“This happened before, last year and the year before that. So I started thinking that maybe there’s a reason for it? Not just being stressed.” Zuko looks hesitant, like he’s not sure if he’s overstepped a boundary here, and Sokka feels guilty.

“I just didn’t want you to have to worry about me,” he says and immediately realises it’s the wrong thing to say as a look of hurt crosses Zuko’s face. “No, I mean-”

“I know I have a lot of stuff to deal with myself but I want you to confide in me about important things.” Zuko closes his eyes. “Or do you not trust me?”

“Wh- no!” Sokka kicks the blanket off himself, practically throwing himself at Zuko. “I’m sorry, I just don’t know how to talk about my mom, it’s been so long and I - never really talked about it with anyone.”

Zuko is all stiff in Sokka’s arms. “Not even your family?”

“What’s the point, they already know.”

Zuko bites his lip in the way that Sokka knows means he’s anxious. “I know I’m not a therapist or anything but you don’t have to be alone with this. You literally took me in to stay with you when I left home and we weren’t even dating yet, the least I can do is lend you an ear.”

“You don’t owe me anything.”

“I didn’t mean-” Zuko cuts himself off, mussing his hair in frustration. “I want to be there for you because you’re my boyfriend and I care about you!”

Sokka leans back, takes in Zuko’s expression. How did he get so lucky, finding someone who cares as much as Zuko does?

“I... don’t know if I can.” The words come out without Sokka’s permission. But he knows it’s true. It’s been so long since he last talked about his mom or really let himself even think about her. At this point he’s lived longer without her than he did with her - what if his memories of her are false?

He’s not ready for that. Not yet.

Zuko nods. “If you don’t want to talk, could we at least... do something fun together?”

“Fun?”

Zuko nods again, looking nervous. “I was thinking, um. We could make new memories, so that you won’t always associate this time of the year with only your mom’s death.”

Sokka stares at Zuko. Zuko, who is the sweetest, most thoughtful boyfriend anyone could ask for and certainly more than Sokka deserves. Zuko, who is probably thinking he overstepped a boundary again, made an inappropriate suggestion, and looks like he’s ready to the words back.

“I mean, if you don’t -”

“That would be nice. Did you have something specific in mind or?”

Zuko blinks. Then, a slow smile spreads across his face. “I have some ideas.”

* * *

Zuko’s ideas (or one of them, at least) turn out to be going to Zuko’s uncle’s tea shop for some freshly brewed jasmine tea. It calms Sokka’s nerves, even though he’s never been the biggest fan of tea, and Zuko’s uncle has such a soothing presence it’s easy to forget there was a specific reason they came here.

(Sometimes Sokka wonders why Zuko chose to come to him the night he left his home instead of going to his uncle. Iroh would have welcomed him with open arms, he’s always been much more of a father figure to Zuko than his actual dad.

But then again, if Zuko _had_ gone to Iroh, Sokka and him may never have started dating. Or at least it would have taken them much longer (thanks, Katara). So. Sokka’s happy with the way things worked out.)

After two cups of tea Sokka is starting to feel much more like a person again.

“I’m sorry I’m a mess.”

Zuko laughs quietly. “I’m kind of a mess too, you know.”

“Yeah, I know.” Sokka smiles at Zuko’s offended expression. It feels wrong to smile when there’s still so much hurt inside him but he wants to change that. He thinks he’s finally ready. “That’s part of why we’re perfect for each other.”

Zuko goes red all the way down to the collar of his shirt (and lower, Sokka knows). But he smiles back anyway and things are not fine, they will need to keep talking about this and Sokka will need help, more than Zuko can give him, but it’s a start.

* * *

Later, when they’re back home and curled up on the couch watching some bland romantic comedy, Sokka reaches his arm around Zuko’s shoulders and pulls him into a hug.

“Thank you.” For being there, for not giving up on Sokka even when he’s being difficult, for wanting to help, even if only a little. Sokka thinks Zuko understands when he leans in to press a soft kiss against Sokka’s lips.

Zuko sighs when they part, a happy sound that makes Sokka’s heart jump in his chest. “We could go somewhere next year, the two of us. You can pick the destination.”

“Another happy memory?”

There must be something in Sokka’s tone that suggests he’s not excited about the idea because Zuko backtracks. “We don’t have to, I just thought-”

“Hey, no, I love the idea.” Sokka kisses Zuko like he’s something precious. And he is, honestly. The most precious thing that has ever been Sokka’s. “Thank you.”

Zuko melts against Sokka, pressing another kiss to his lips. Sokka feels - safe. Like he can trust Zuko with anything. Even -

“I think I want to tell you about Yue as well. Sometime.”

“Yue?”

“My first girlfriend.”

“Oh,” Zuko says. Then, “When you’re ready to talk, I’ll listen.”

It’s such a simple thing to say and yet, Sokka’s chest floods with affection. A promise of a future together; no matter when, Zuko will be there to hear Sokka out.

They’re still young and life is full of uncertainties but Sokka knows, as sure as breathing, that he wants to marry Zuko one day.

That can become another happy memory.

**Author's Note:**

> ...and then they never did talk about Azula again.... honestly that's just bc I'm a fucking dumbass, that conversation wasn't part of the original outline and bringing her up just didn't fit the flow of the rest of the fic. who knows, maybe there will be a sequel where they go get Azula and get her to therapy?
> 
> anyway. i love hurt/comfort and this is 1000% self-indulgent
> 
> (also the usual disclaimer: this is self-betaed and i'm not a native English speaker so if you spot any mistakes, let me know!)


End file.
